Broken Glass: The Definitive Cut
by SilverLightSpeed
Summary: THE NEW CANON VERSION OF BROKEN GLASS! After an unauthorized experiment brings the city of Zootopia to Sonic's world, Sonic and Tails are tasked to return Zootopia to the proper universe once more. Only one problem- Sonic starts feeling things for the bunny who asked him to do it. But when an old enemy returns and the grand scheme is revealed- can Sonic survive this twisted game?
1. The Cross-Universe Continuum

**What? _Broken Glass is back?_ That's right, I'm releasing an updated, uncut, better version. This changes a lot of things from the original and will be the canon version going forward. Before I do any more work on my Broken Glass Sequel, I'm redoing the classic. This is gonna be fun.**

* * *

There was a simple question on everyone's mind.

What was going on?

About a month ago, an unauthorized scientist named Mons had created a device that would open portals from Mobius, Sonic the Hedgehog's home universe, to others. Mons's machine had been drawing on the energy of other universes to open portals, which had involuntarily been pulling the inhabitants of these universes to Mobius. Mons's actions had occurred suddenly, devastating large chunks of landscape. The Mobian government was rocked to the core, and partially destroyed by riots from mysterious new visitors from other worlds. Naturally, it turned to it's hero for hope.

Sonic the Hedgehog had also been breezing through places he'd never seen before on his daily runs. These places were definitely not from Sonic's world. Though we wasn't exactly the genius Tails was, it didn't take him long to realize that the combination of universes must be causing locations from those universes to show up here. Sonic made up his mind to explore more of these locations after he visited Tails to pick up his new invention, The Cross-Universe Detector. By targeting specific energy signatures, it had a high likelihood of determining when people, places and things were from other universes. That way, Sonic would always know when something was out of the ordinary.

Tails, characteristically, was busy in his workshop when a knock at the door disturbed his work. "Hello?" he called, walking towards the door. He looked through the peephole on his front door and saw Sonic waving at him.

"Yo, Tails! This door isn't gonna open itself!" Sonic said teasingly to Tails. "Hold on, Sonic!" Tails said as he opened the door. Sonic stepped in and nearly hit his head on the low ceiling. "Ow! You can build mech suits but you can't raise your ceiling?" Tails chuckled. "Given the fact that we're dealing with a universal fusion crisis, the ceiling hasn't exactly been in the budget." Sonic sighed and shook his head. "Anyway, is your fancy-pants detector ready yet?" Tails nodded excitedly. "Yep! I upgraded it with lots of extra features, since you've been away and haven't found the time to pick it up."

Sonic grinned. "Well, I have been doing a lot of exploring. I heard a headline about a crazy modern city called Zootropolis. Or was it Zootopia? Maybe Zootown. Anyhow, I've never seen it before, so my suspicion is, it's not from this world. That city probably warped here from one of those portals that Mons guy opened." Tails tipped his head slightly in agreement and said "I can't believe Mons would act so irrationally. His actions were unauthorized, and he's torn apart parts of the world so that these new locations have a- well, location! If he wanted to do something for the people he should have followed his brother's example and joined the Freedom Fighters!"

Mons's brother, Joe the Pug, had been subjugated to a terrible experiment years ago with a serum that gave him super-strength, heightened speed and agility, and a extremely strong immune system, making him extremely hard to be put out of action. He had joined the Freedom Fighters just 3 weeks ago, and was already a respected member, known under the codename Bulli. Sonic sighed and turned to Tails. "Everyone with good intentions in their heart just wants to help, to make the world a better, safer place. Maybe Mons opened up the world to so much more beauty and opportunity. What if we can get everyone back? Maybe they'll like the new Mobius. Every action has a consequence, Tails. It's hard to call so early if some of them are worth it."

"And some obviously aren't." Tails retorted as Sonic grabbed the CUD and walked out the door, ducking to avoid the low ceiling. Sonic turned on the mini-GPS he wore on his wrist and typed in 'Zootopia', fairly certain that was the name. The GPS found a match, and Sonic sped off towards the location.

ZOOTOPIA- A CITY FROM ANOTHER WORLD- 2:04 PM

Zootopia Police Department Officer Judy Hopps was easily having her worst day on the job.

The entire city of Zootopia, including many of it's outskirts such as Bunnyburrow, Judy's hometown, where her parents and many, many relatives lived, had warped into another universe, on another world. So much had been brought to Mobius that to some of Zootopia's inhabitants, they were barely affected, but Judy still knew it wasn't really her home, even if her home was still there. She wanted to explore the world- her world. She decided then and now whoever sent her here was going to send her back, though she knew full well she didn't have a plan. Her close friend Nick Wilde agreed with her, and though it was one hell of a lightshow, it was time to start working on getting back- somehow. The rest of the Zootopia Police Department, or ZPD, had surprisingly minimal concern with the matter at the moment because they were a police force assigned to Zootopia alone as it was. But even they were aware of a rising issue. Animals from all over the world had come to visit Zootopia. It was one of their world's great staples. And now it was just-gone. Something was coming. There had been strange tremors in whatever universe they were in now, and they were worried their world might be experiencing the same. Zootopia's inhabitants didn't know much. All they knew was something about a guy named Mons and a blue hedgehog... maybe he was Mons?

Judy's frantic hopes were answered when the televisions in the police station all suddenly switched to emergency footage of the aforementioned hedgehog tearing through the city. Judy gasped. If she could catch him, she could get answers.

Sonic ran through Zootopia, free as the wind. "Yo Tails, this place is G-REAT! I haven't bothered to break out the CUD yet- Tails? you there?" Tails's voice came over the comm-link on Sonic's wrist. "I'm here, Sonic, but someone is trying to jam the communications! Sonic, do you copy-" Sonic's signal cut out, and he came to a halt. He felt eyes on him and turned around.

"Hello?" He turned around again and came face to face with Judy Hopps. "Well, aren't you the cutest little bunny-" Sonic began. "Don't. Call. Me. Cute." Judy snapped at him. "As it is, you're wanted for questioning by the ZPD." A puzzled look crossed Sonic's face. "Me? What did I do? And who are the ZPD?" Judy sighed impatiently. "What did you do? You tore my world apart, Mons!" Sonic laughed exasperatedly. "You've got to be kidding me. Mons? The scientist? I'm not him! I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, first-class hero, chili-dog eating champion and all-around good guy!" Sonic said pridefully. Judy's face turned red as a beet.

"Dammit- I thought you were the Sonic I kept hearing about but Nick just HAD to convince me you were Mons." Sonic sighed. "Listen. This crisis is going on over the whole world, and as much as I love this place, I'm really only here to gather more intel. So, why don't you ask you ZPD friends to help you out? Zootopia Police Department, right? They can help you!" Judy gave Sonic an exasperated look. "They're not concerned about it. Their job is to protect Zootopia, and that's still here, so- they don't care. And, as far as I can tell, you were just taking a leisure walk- run, through the city." Sonic sighed again. "Ok, ok you got me there. Look, the truth is, I don't think I can get you back to wherever you came from, and I didn't want to let you down. I mean, how could I hurt someone as cute as you?"

"DON'T CALL ME CUTE!"

2:31 PM- LOCATION UNKNOWN

Rival and friend of Sonic, Shadow the Hedgehog, stood on the edge of a cliff where Sonic had asked to meet him yesterday to talk about 'the portals'. He noticed that for someone with such heightened speed, Sonic was quite late. Shadow turned around to leave just as he saw a blue blur racing across the hills. Sonic saw Shadow and ran towards him. "Took you long enough." Shadow said coldly. He expected a retort, but was surprised to see Sonic simply nodding in agreement. Shadow knew something had happened. "What the Hell happened while you were out there?" Sonic caught his breath and said "Oh, just another person who wants me to send them back home. I don't think there's much I can do for her." Shadow looked up to the sky, not fond of direct eye contact with an exasperated Sonic, and remained silent for a moment. "You don't sound convinced. What's going on?" Sonic was surprised by Shadow's question and turned his head away. "Well, I think I can do it. I'll need help, mostly from Tails, but it should be possible. There's just one problem with sending her back home." Shadow looked inquisitively at Sonic. "And what is that?" Sonic blushed and said:

"I kinda- like something about her."

Shadow paused a moment and said "You want my advice? Block it out. It'll end easier knowing that she'll never feel that way towards you. She just wants you to send her home, then she'll return to her life." Sonic sighed. "Listen, I'm a little low on motivational speeches, but, I saw this one in a paper recently. 'When the whole world comes crashing down, that's when you have to be strongest. That's when you have to stand up and show the world you won't be deterred.'" Shadow looked at Sonic and shook his head in amusement. "You really are determined, aren't you?"

Sonic grinned. "You know I am. _I'm SONIC THE HE-_"

"Cut that out." Shadow spat.

"Ugh! Fine."

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**The Story Begins! Again! **

**Like I said, this is the new canon version. Feel free to prefer the original, but this is the full version of the story.**


	2. Taking the Case

Shadow watched Sonic speed away, unconvinced. Sonic had spent years around nearly any and every potential lover in Mobius and had barely ever shown affection towards any of them. And yet, he had one brief talk with some cop and he's falling for her? It didn't take a genius like Tails or Eggman to conclude that the factors didn't add up. There was clearly some plan to Mons's actions. Was Shadow really expected to believe that somehow, Mons escaped government notice the entire time he was building quite possibly the most destructive machine across the entire universe? There was clearly a greater force at play. And what- or who- ever that force was could be influencing Sonic as well.

**ZOOTOPIA- THE NEXT DAY**

Nick Wilde, close friend and partner of Judy Hopps, was pissed off.

Judy had endlessly persisted Chief Bogo to let her and Nick take the 'Mons Case' which wasn't really a case at all. It was more: "Mons committed a crime by tearing apart the fabric of the freaking universe, so we have an all clear to bring him to justice. There's multiple police organizations attempting to apprehend Mons, let's get there first."

Nick sighed. Bogo must really have a lot of faith in Judy. Before she left, he told her that he believed Mons to be the hedgehog who had been spotted racing through the city. But he and Judy had no real leads, and could end up arresting the wrong person. Nick's thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock at the door. Judy entered, the hedgehog in question behind her. Nick smiled as best he could, trying to look optimistic about whatever might be about to happen.

"Hey Judy! Is everything alright?" Judy smiled at seeing her partner. "Hi Nick! Ya see, this hedgehog here wasn't Mons, but he's agreed to answer some questions about what he knows. Sonic shook Nick's hand. "Hey!" Sonic yelled as he realized Nick had a joy buzzer. "Nick!" Judy scolded. Nick chuckled. "Sorry, sorry, I've been so stressed out lately I needed something to laugh at." Sonic shrugged. "It's OK. I've been pretty stressed myself, what with the whole universe being torn up and whatnot- sorry, is this a sensitive subject?"

Judy shrugged. "Maybe. Thanks for asking. Although, you will have to answer a few questions about it, if you don't mind." Sonic smiled to himself at Judy's return of hospitality, and sat down in front of a large rhino who began to question him about some of the recent happenings. "Alright." The rhino began.

"My name is Officer George Hornez, and I just need to ask you a few simple things. I'll let you answer them all in one go. Are you working with Mons, can you repair the damage he's caused, and are you working with an orginzation of any kind?" Sonic paused a moment. "Jeez, seems pretty short for a police questioning, but if you say so. The answers are no, theoretically, and- well, no. I used to work with a group called the Freedom Fighters, but- ah, nevermind."

George nodded. "In that case, what do you know about Mons?" Sonic pulled up a mental file on Mons. "Well, he's tall, 7 feet 1 inch to be exact, he's a bit- detached, he's a basset hound, and a 'mad scientist' if you will. He claims his goal is to help the people, but as you can see, he tends to, um, take matters into his own hands." George wrote down everything Sonic said on a notepad. "Thank you for that information. Now I have to ask, do you believe Mons has an ulterior motive?"

Sonic shrugged. "I know that Mons had a- girlfriend, wife- not really sure which, she was- trapped, somewhere else- I think this experiment was trying to bring her back. No one knows what happened to her, all Mons told authorities before he escaped custody is that she disappeared one day.

She was an interesting one, with- powers. I've heard she was a magic user- some think she warped herself far away from Mons- of her own choosing" Sonic said, pressing his memory for details. George kept writing on his notepad. "Thank you, Sonic. I believe you're free to go now." Sonic gave George a thumbs-up and walked out. Nick grabbed Sonic's shoulder as he was leaving. "Hey, mind if I talk to you for a sec?" he asked. Sonic shook his head. "No, not at all."

Nick nodded and walked outside. Sonic followed him out into an area full of vegetation, where Nick was sure they could talk in privacy. Nick turned around. "The way you answered those questions, the way you hesitated to get up after questioning, the way you slowly walked out the door- I know what I'm seeing. You want to be on this case, don't you?" Sonic took a few steps back, surprised. "How did you know?" Nick grinned. "Y'know, you've been a really nice guy in all of the 5 minutes I've known you, and I wouldn't mind having you on the case. I did, uh, notice something, though. As soon as my partner started talking to you, your whole expression just kinda- lit up. I've seen that look before." Sonic shot Nick a frustrated look.

"Y'know, you should really be a psychic or something." Sonic grunted. Nick laughed. "Oh, I'm not that good at it- yet. I can tell with you though, since the signs are so- obvious, for lack of a better word." Sonic remained silent for a moment and then said "Well, does it really matter?" Nick paused and said "It depends. If you wanna be on this case, our operation can't be compromised for anything. Anything." Sonic tipped his head slightly in understanding.

"Nick, I've had mission partners before. Plenty of times. You see, I'm- well, I'm kind of a huge deal around here. A while back, there was this guy name Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Later started calling himself Eggman to, well, I assume it was to throw people off his trail a little bit. He nearly took over and enslaved the whole world. Obviously that didn't happen." A look of realization crossed Nick's face. "Because you saved it." he said, finishing Sonic's sentence. Sonic nodded.

"Yeah, but it wasn't just me. I had a lot of help, mainly from my best friend, Tails. Funny thing is, he's a fox too. So, this wouldn't be my first experience working with one." Nick chuckled at Sonic's remark. "Well, that's good to hear. Stereotype about foxes lying and all that. So, how exactly did you- man, this really sounds like a comic book- save the world?" Nick asked. Sonic grinned. "Well, I'm fast." Nick raised an eyebrow. "How fast? My partner said you were fast." Sonic then breezed off, circling around multiple buildings in a blur of light before coming to a stop in front of Nick, whose jaw was nearly touching the ground. "That fast." Sonic said to Nick. Nick shook his head in disbelief.

"Mons's girl had magic and you have super speed? Does everyone on this planet have powers? Well, that's impressive. Now, back to the matter at hand. I can get you on the case. You'll be working with me and Judy. But like I said, nothing throws this mission off course. Nothing."

Sonic shot him an affirmative sharp nod. "Of course."

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**The Remake Continues, now with better writing and more coherent story! **

**There's new plot stuff coming up too, so stay tuned!**


	3. Aftershow

Dr. Mons Charles Califer, often known simply as Mons, was shocked, even having escaped police custody, at how many warrants there were for his arrest. As he watched the many TV screens in his laboratory, while they were all tuned to different channels, they seemed to be broadcasting the same message. Many of those who wanted Mons arrested were not from this world, he noticed, watching in shock as he realized what he had done. He had never intended for his experiment to produce these results. He felt the guilt would never leave him, considering his experiment, as far as he knew, was irreversible.

The only way he could calculate to stop it would be to write it out of history, which, as far as Mons knew, no one and nothing was capable of backwards time travel. He began to form a theory in his head, but his thoughts were broken by his horribly annoying microwave alerting him dinner was ready- none of it mattered to Mons. Mons had secretly managed to recreate the same serum that gave his brother powers, meaning he never had to eat or sleep. But he still ate for pleasure, and he thought the food might ease his mind, so he began to eat some of his dinner while he worked.

It didn't taste bad, and for a moment, Mons longed for the days when his life was normal. If only someone could reverse time, he swore he would make better choices. But, that was wistful thinking, and Mons knew that he could only come so close to fixing this- alone. That blue hedgehog- Sonic, had joined up with some 'ZPD' team who was determined, like all the others, to bring him to 'justice'.

But he and Sonic shouldn't be enemies, he thought. With his help, Mons might be able to fix this. Though, to convince him, it was unfortunately Mons would have to separate the hedgehog- Sonic, that was it- from his teammates- by whatever means necessary. Mons sighed, a tear rolling down his cheek. He didn't want to hurt anyone ever again.

And as he heard the crash, followed by footsteps behind him, he thought the authorities had finally pinned him down. A familiar hand gripped his shoulder.

Mons whirled around to face Bulli.

"You're one lucky son of a bitch. Freedom Fighters were about to raid this place. I showed them a fake scan to throw them off, because I knew it was you down here. What the Hell did you do?"

Mons froze for a moment. "Thank God. It's you. Listen- he's not dead. I'm telling you, please. Tell the Freedom Fighters he's not dead. He's behind this. He has Amber. Please."

Bulli's temper began to rise. "Who are you yammering on about? Please, bro. I don't want to do this. But I'll turn you in to the Freedom Fighters if I have to."

Mons turned frantic, tears welling in his eyes. "No. Please. Please no. He's alive. I'm telling you, he's alive. He made me build the machine. The designs were his. Remember when I told you I was going off the grid for a work project? It was him. You have to get out of here. If he knows you were here-"

Bulli cut him off impatiently. "Who? Who's making you do this?"

Mons began to shake uncontrollably. "I've already said too much. Oh God, I've said too much."

Bulli threw a communications device down on the table. "When you're ready to talk, use this. You have a week. If you don't turn yourself in or give me an explanation, I'm coming back for you. Please don't make me do this."

And with that, he left.

Mons fell to the floor, sobbing. He could fix this. He could prove to Bulli that he was innocent. If he could convince nobody else, surely he could convince his own brother.

Now if he could just find Sonic.

**-ZOOTOPIA: ZPD-**

Sonic had just finished putting on his police uniform when Judy came in. "Y'know, that outfit kinda suits you" she said, giving Sonic a sly smile. Sonic laughed. "Oh yeah? Well, here's a secret: yours suits you better." Judy blushed. "Th-thanks. Anyway, we're about to move out. I just wanted to make sure you're ready for this. Remember, we're all in this together. It's our job to look out for each other, which means I have your back, you've got mine, we've got Nick's, he's got ours- ok, you get the point." Sonic smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I've got it. I've been on a team before."

Judy tilted her head and said "This came up in questioning, didn't it?" Sonic bowed his head. "In the 4 seconds of questioning there was? Alright, listen. It's- kind of a sensitive subject. I was on this team called the Freedom Fighters. Me and another member, Sally Acorn, we- were a lot more than friends. That was the one relationship- that kind of relationship- I really had that meant something. And I thought- I thought I'd spend the rest of my life with her. But I didn't. We broke up, and eventually, we went our separate ways. I left the Freedom Fighters one day. And y'know what I get for it? This happens. This Mons guy goes and tears up my whole world and countless others. I know I can't compare to what this did to you, but- this affected me too. I thought after moving on from the pain, there would be peace. I thought I'd be happy. Have a life. Y'know, there's thousands of girls fawning over me, but none of them interest me. I'm sick and tired of fighting! I just want peace! That's why I started fighting to begin with." Sonic paused.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have put this on you. You don't need any more problems. I do. I deserve all of this, don't I? I could've stopped Mons! I could've stopped all of this! It's my fault you're here!" Sonic wiped his eye, but couldn't stop a tear from rolling down his cheek. Judy put a hand on his shoulder. "You're a good person, Sonic. No one can change that. I made a terrible mistake once. I almost lost Nick, and I'm not going to lose anyone else. It's not your fault, it's Mons who did this. You know that. We're going to catch him, and when we do, you don't ever have to do this again. You can retire and walk away." Sonic shook his head. "As long as the world needs a hero, I'll be there. I can't sit idly by and watch someone get hurt. I'd never forgive myself." Judy smiled at him. "I told you you were a good person. You're not in this one alone. We're going to fix this- together." Sonic nodded and opened the door, where Nick was waiting. "What took you two so long?" Nick said, unable to hide the amused grin on his face. "I was just- giving Sonic the rundown." Judy said. Sonic chuckled. "Y'know, I'm surprised I got on this case so, y'know, quick. But since I'm here, at least for the time being, can I be 'Officer Sonic'?" Nick laughed. "OK, Officer Sonic. Ready to make a lot of worlds a better place?"

Sonic grinned. "You bet."

**-UNKNOWN NIGHTCLUB: AFTERSHOW-**

Gazelle, the most popular music star in Zootopia, had lost a decent audience due to Zootopia being torn from the rest of the world. This kind of nonsense wasn't her territory. She was a singer with a large audience from Zootopia and beyond, and a good portion of that beyond had vanished from her concerts due to this sci-fi crap. She turned sharply to see one of her assistants opening the door to her dressing room.

"Er- Miss Gazelle, as you requested, I am here to tell you the- er, status of your concerts. While you're still maintaining a sizable audience, each show, it has been getting- smaller." Gazelle sighed. "Alright, alright. Guess I'll just have to give 'em the best show they've ever seen tonight. Advertise more. Get posters, web ads, anything you can do. String 'em up as far out as you can. If this audience won't come to me, we'll have to come to them." The assistant nodded. "An excellent idea, Miss Gazelle." Gazelle sighed again as her assistant left the room. He had such an obvious crush on her, and it was really getting on her nerves. He was being paid to work for her, couldn't he just keep it to himself?

The next voice that said "Hello, Miss." certainly wasn't her assistant's.

Gazelle turned around in shock and came face-to-face with a black hedgehog, and not like the kind she'd seen before. "How did you get in here! Securit-" The hedgehog spoke. "Don't call security. It's not going to do you any favors. My name is Shadow. It's recently become apparent to me you've had quite the audience. But, you lost it due to- the experiment. I take it you know what I'm talking about."  
Gazelle relaxed slightly and nodded. "Good. Now, let me tell you a secret. This experiment has a bit of a problem. It's irreversible. Meaning, to regain your audience, you're going to have to draw in this world's inhabitants. Not everybody in this- Zootopia is aware that they've crossed over to another world. I'd like to keep it that way. I can help you regain your audience if you can make the remaining idiots around here in this city think they're still in their world. Until something can be done, there's no reason to worry them. You'll only make this worse if you start alerting everybody part of your audience isn't even from their world. I'm aware you're a quite- influential figure. I believe you can do this." Gazelle stared at Shadow in disbelief. "Where are you from?" she asked quietly. Shadow shook his head. "Long story short, I'm from this world. The one your city got brought to." Gazelle looked at him inquisitively. "And long story?"  
Shadow closed his eyes. "You wouldn't want to know. I wouldn't want to disturb you. You've got enough to worry about as is." Gazelle nodded in agreement.

"That I do. But I also don't have much of a reason to trust someone who breaks into my show and tells me that there are somehow citizens of Zootopia who aren't aware they've- crossed over. You do know the police attempts to calm them down didn't really work, right?" Shadow nodded. "I understand. But something's been going on lately outside of just the obvious. I've noticed citizens begin to somehow forget they're on another world. Someone is playing a game, and for now, we have to play it. For your own sake, please. I can help you, but you have to hold up your end." Gazelle walked closer to him. "You do realize this isn't the best way to ask someone for a favor?" Shadow shook his head. "For your benefit, not mine. And for the record, you want to know how I got in here? I teleported." Shadow warped to the other side of the room as Gazelle watched in shock. "How can you do that?" she nearly whispered. Shadow simply looked away and teleported out of the room. For Gazelle, her day kept getting weirder.

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**Next Chapter is an all-new section! Hope you liked the introduction of Bulli!**


	4. Our World Here

**To anyone wondering how the heck I'm updating so fast: I have the first 4 chapters saved on my computer already. So that's my secret :)**

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**-FREEDOM FIGHTERS MISSION: SUBDUE HIVE-**

Bulli and his team neared the location indicated on their mission tablets. "Alright. Cobalt, you search left, Crystal, you right, and Brown Nose, you're with me."

The grey dog he had just adressed looked up irritably. "You ever gonna stop calling me Mr. Brown Nose, asshat?"

Bulli grinned. "Help me take out this freak and his swarm and I'll think about it."

The Freedom Fighters were on the hunt for a known eco-terrorist named Hive, a bee who had created a swarm of nano-technology-constructed mini bees. After defeating The Chaotix, Hive had risen quickly on several most-wanted lists. His high-tech insectisoid battlesuit could summon wings, swarms of nano-bees, and blasts of lethal energy. The Chaotix had luckily picked up a lead on Hive, but after their last defeat, a team of Freedom Fighters were sent in instead. That was Bulli's Team.

'Mr. Brown Nose', whose real name was Gray, flipped out dual wield electric pistols and a small signal jammer. He placed it over the seemingly innocent manhole cover before the team, and the entrance to Hive's base of operations opened.

"Alright, team." Bulli said. "He's not going to surrender. He'll want a fight, and we're here to give it to him. Be ready."

Right as he spoke, a swarm of nano-bees flew in their direction. Crystal, a new recruit, drew an energy sword and cut through the bees. "I can't hold this swarm in one place for long!" she yelled. "We've got to push through them!"

Suddenly, the swarm retreated. A hand poked out of the darkness ahead and summoned the bees as Hive revealed himself to the team. "Heroesssss...I...hate...heroess...Didn't you learn anything from the Chaotix's defeat? You can't stop me! Even Sonic the Hedgehog fears me!"

Cobalt, a super-strong elephant, lunged himself at Hive, who dodged his attack effortlessly and struck him forcefully in the back. "How pathetic. I have no time for these games." Hive muttered as he began to simply walk away, unleashing his nano-bee swarm on the team.

Bulli flung himself through the bees and launched onto Hive, tearing at his mech suit. "I'm gonna squash you, bug." he said, dodging the suit's shoulder canons as Hive flailed and blew out chunks of the roof. Crystal swung at Hive with her sword and made contact as Gray blasted him with the full force of his pistols. Nano-bees flew around the team as Hive forced the team off of him. Hive brought his legs together as his suit formed a bee's stinger and flew straight at Bulli. Bulli was surprised as the metal cut his skin. Hive grabbed Bulli and flew up through the ceiling, dragging him across the fresh ground. "You should be thanking me. I was preparing to destroy Mons's damn machine. If no one else will kill him, I will. I've got computers pinpointing his location now."

Hive dropped Bulli and flew back down into the lair. Bulli struggled to get up as he heard the faint battle cries of his teammates. He was going to destroy those computers. Bulli launched himself back into the fray and jumped over the battle below, running further into Hive's base. He heard Cobalt yell in pain, but he had to trust that he could handle himself. He had to destroy those computers.

Bulli finally found a large terminal of three computers that were collectively tracking Mons's location, nearing completion. He brought his fists down on them, destroying them and the data within, fighting off the nano-bees that had followed him. He tore out of the computer room and ran back to his teammates as fast as he could.

His teammates were alive, but only barely. In his absence, Hive had managed to overpower them. "Dammit.." Bulli rushed at Hive, but to no avail. Hive laughed and knocked him to the ground. "This..can't be how I die...is it?" Bulli choked.

Hive wasn't laughing when a bright dagger pierced his chest.

"_What in the Hell with chocolate sprinkles?_" Bulli muttered.

The dagger that had killed Hive wasn't one of Crystal's weapons. The young deer still laid on the ground in shock. Even for a large pug like Bulli, whoever had just killed Hive looked extremely tall. The figure was female, and appeared to be a Beagle. It was at this point that Bulli was seriously beginning to wonder why _so many friggin' dogs_ were about that hero life, though the same could be said about hedgehogs. The figure that stood before Bulli was probably about 8 feet tall, and wore nothing but an incredibly revealing simple cloth. Her entire body was covered in jewelry and piercings. She looked like an ancient goddess. "Alright lady, I'm gonna ask you two questions." Bulli began. "First of all, who the hell are you, and secondly, can you put some damn clothes on?"

The beagle laughed, snapped her fingers, and was instantly covered in magical armor for a moment. "I can appear however I like. In my younger days, I was known as a temptress. You ask me, I think I've still got it."

Bulli rolled his eyes. "This is seriously crossing into weird today, and I'm a pug the size of a damn Great Dane with super strength. Why'd you help us out, anyway?"

The beagle walked towards Bulli's teammates and began healing their injuries with some kind of light. "One, your team was about to be murdered. Two, I believe you know my sister."

Crystal scratched her head. "Nah. Pretty sure I don't."

Bulli interjected. "The rest of you don't- but I do. You're Amber's sister. Mons never told me she had a sister."

The beagle laughed. "We hadn't talked since her and Mons began seeing each other. I thought her time too valuable to waste, but she loved that old fool. Look where it got her."

Bulli could feel his blood boil. "Now don't you dare-"

The beagle raised her hand to quiet him. "I'm not here to insult your brother. I'm here because my sister never left him- she was taken from him. By the same person who forced him to perform this terrible fusion of worlds. Your brother is innocent, and I can prove it. I'd say we have a shared interest. I want to save my sister, and you want to save your brother. As much as I prefer to do things by myself, I'm here to ask for your assistance. Do we have a deal?"

Bulli looked around and saw his Cobalt flash a thumbs up. Gray and Crystal soon followed suit. Bulli sighed. "Alright, lady. If my team's in, I'm in. But I'm gonna need your name."

The beagle smiled. "Of course. It's Salon."

A round of laughter filled the room.

"Like the place idiots go to get their hair done?" Crystal said. "You've gotta be kiddi-"

"Silence!" Salon yelled. "It's in a language a fool like you could never hope to understand."

"Alright, enough joking around." Bulli snapped. "Who forced Mons to do this? Who took your sister?"

Salon chuckled.

"You really haven't figured it out yet?"

-ELSEWHERE, TAILS'S HOUSE-

Tails had just heard that Hive had been found dead in his base and was about to inform the Chaotix when Sonic came dashing through the door. "Woah, the usual knock would be nice next time!" Tails blurted. Sonic cringed. "Sorry bud. I just need a favor- and fast. See, a whole lot just happened and I somehow ended up about to go on a mission with the Zootopia police. We're going to try to find Mons. Do you still have that Speed Amplifier you built?"

Tails looked up from his desk in shock. "Sonic, that Amplifier was incredibly dangerous. You nearly disintegrated yourself just testing it! Plus, we ended up never needing it after Eggman disappeared."

Sonic nodded. "I know. But I have to find Mons, and this could get scary fast. Listen, remember what I said when you built the amplifier, before Eggman disappeared? He was getting too strong, remember? His inventions were getting to powerful. He finally had me figured out. I had to get faster than him again. I told you I'd never be able to live with myself if people got hurt because I was too slow. I still feel that way now. Please, Tails. I'll only use it if I have to."

Tails knew arguing was fruitless. He quietly got up, rifled through his inventions until he found the desired amplifier, and handed it to Sonic. "You should know that a news crew found Hive. Dead."

Sonic grunted. "Heroes these days always killing everyone. We're supposed to be better than just soldiers. This is why I left The Freedom Fighters. Even as evil as Hive was, he just came out of nowhere after Eggman disappeared and rose to power. Having him alive for questioning would have been useful."

Sonic said no more words and dashed out the door, leaving a speedily written note on the table for Tails.

(Thanks Buddy.

Everything's gonna be alright.

Promise.)

-Sonic

* * *

**I wouldn't be me if my characters didn't have some weird names. Hope you enjoyed this new segment, which can't be found in any capacity in the original!**


	5. Our War Here

Sonic shook his head. "So, let me get this straight. Your plan is just to waltz into Mons's laboratory and hope he comes quietly? You're lucky I came prepared with a backup."

"And what would that be?" Judy asked.

Sonic frowned. "Hopefully, I won't have to even tell you."

Nick chuckled a bit. "No, Sonic. We don't expect him to just come quietly. But we've already got concrete and frankly obvious evidence of illegal activities being conducted in the facility in which Mons operates. We'll search the building, and if- excuse me- when we find that evidence, we'll shut the place down and Mons will most likely serve 20 years to life after you...er..convince him."

Sonic grinned. "Well, that sounds easy. Not." Sonic leaned closer to Judy when he said that. Nick rolled his eyes and slapped Sonic on the shoulder, looking serious but obviously trying to hold back a grin. Sonic simply chuckled and kept walking. He did like Nick quite a bit. He seemed like a nice guy who was just trying to do the right thing- and was pretty good at it too- after previously doing some, well, illegal activities to get by.

Nick turned to face Sonic and said "So, explain to me. What exactly did this 'Eggman' do?" Sonic sighed. "His name was Ivo Robotnik. Later became known as 'Dr Eggman'. Doesn't sound like much of a threat. Wasn't, really. Until one day I woke up and boom, he was. He finally figured out how to kill me, and he had machines to do it. He built a device that could create an energy field to slow me down. I had Tails build a speed amplifier to counteract Eggman's weapon."

"Luckily, I never had to use it. I caught Eggman right before he unleashed his weapon and really thought I'd have to kill him then and there. But I didn't kill him- I wouldn't. His machine malfunctioned as the cannon was about to fire, and- they never found the body. Personally, I don't think he's dead. Tails and I call it his 'disappearance'." Nick nodded. "I- see. Well, if he's not dead, do you think he'll come back?" Sonic shrugged. "Maybe. But, though I won't kill, I won't hesitate to put him behind bars. As many times as it takes." Nick sighed. "Is it bad to say that if that happens I hope I'm not here on- y'know, this world?" Sonic shook his head. "Nah. Eggman wasn't always a problem to me, but he's done terrible things to those who weren't quite as able to defend themselves. Although I think you and the rest of the ZPD could handle him just fine- with a technology upgrade." Nick laughed under his breath. "Yeah right. Who's gonna give us a tech upgrade?" Sonic winked. "Well, I could ask Tails." Judy smirked. "I would not want to see what your contacts book looks like." Sonic flashed her a sly smile. "Well, I've got a physical and a digital copy, whichever you prefer. Although you can't take my phone." Nick grunted. "You're the fastest thing alive. Why do you need a freaking phone?" Sonic shrugged.

"Tails built it for me. Comes in handy when I'm feeling tired." Nick cracked a smile. "When's that, 8:30 AM?" Sonic shot Nick a dirty look. "Y'know, just because I'm fast doesn't mean I tire out at the same speed." Sonic said, shaking his head. "Good to know." muttered Judy. Nick nodded. "Y'know, I gotta say it was really nice of you to walk with us instead of- y'know, speeding off and whatnot. Must be a pain."

Sonic winced. "Not as painful as what's coming." Sonic tapped the ankle braces he had carefully hidden under his socks, and the speed amplifier wrapped his shoes. Judy shook her head. "I thought you said you wouldn't even have to tell us what your backup plan was."

"I said I hoped not. I changed my mind. And I'm not telling, I'm showing." Sonic said nonchalantly.

"That's the speed amplifier, isn't it." Nick said.

Sonic nodded at him and slowed to a stop as he realized they were incredibly close to Mons's last known location. "Right. Hurts pretty bad when I run that fast."

"And by the way, nobody could even get tabs on Mons. How'd you get this info on his location?"

Nick muttered something under his breath. "All you need to know is I have a contact."

Sonic wasn't about to let the conversation drop just yet. "A contact in the Freedom Fighters."

Nick, clearly embarrassed, attempted to downplay the conversation, but Sonic stopped him. "Listen, Nick. You're bringing the Freedom Fighters into this. I don't know who nabbed this intel, and frankly, I don't care. Your contact is likely a rouge agent selling classified secrets. There's only one decent sect of Fighters left, and it's Bulli's. I'm guessing your contact is well outside Bulli's jurisdiction. I understand how useful this information is, but please don't let the Freedom Fighters in on our mission again. They don't need to know what I'm up to these days."

Nick hung his head slightly. "Fine, fine. Look, I-"

Judy froze. "Wait- hold up everyone, it looks like we're here. Nick, you search the front. Sonic, you're with me. We'll investigate the back of the building, where Mons's portal device is apparently located." Sonic blushed. "I was thinking maybe I should go with Nick..." Judy smirked at him. "What's the matter? Not used to working with girls? Don't worry, I don't bite." Sonic's blush grew redder. "No! I've worked with plenty of women in the past- I'm making this sound awkward again, aren't I?"

Judy laughed. "C'mon. I'm not just gonna let you stand here and embarrass yourself." Nick watched and laughed.

"This is gonna be golden."

Judy crept around the side of Mons's base of operations, Sonic following closely behind. Judy gasped. "Oh- my God." Sonic looked through the window Judy was staring at and saw it. Mons's device that had started all of this. Judy pulled out her gun that all the ZPD officers had been assigned in case it was necessary. "Alright. Now I just gotta make a clean shot and-"

Sonic stopped her. "Wait. Tails gave me his best estimates on this device when this whole thing started. You can't just pull out your gun and blow it to kingdom come!"

"Your friend is right. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that won't work."

Judy whipped around and came face-to-face with Mons. The tall Basset Hound threw her to the ground, several feet away in the snow. "JUDY!" Sonic yelled, running over toward her. "Oh- my God..." Judy was lying in the snow, bleeding. "Holy shit!" Sonic, not usually one for profanity, yelled as Mons tossed him aside next to Judy. Sonic looked at her with worry all over his face. "Why can't people like you ever just come quietly!" Sonic spin-dashed at Mons, but his attacks barely made a difference. Mons grabbed Sonic and began to rise into the air. "And how exactly can you fly?" Sonic groaned.

Nick rushed towards Mons, noticing the commotion. Mons, who had still barely spoke the entire time, turned to Nick and raised a hand to signal him to stop. "Don't make me hurt any of you more than I have to. You don't understand what's going on here."

Sonic clicked the speed amplifiers online. "I understand- perfectly!"

Mons was shocked as Sonic tore across the ground towards him and punched him with the force of a cannon. Blood pooled out of Mons's mouth. "You're an idiot. You can barely even control yourself with that technology. You'll kill yourself before you can take me down. And like I said, you don't understand what's going on at all."

Sonic swung at him again. Mons stumbled and fell to the ground. "You're fighting the wrong enemy, Sonic. Stop this."

Sonic readied another strike, and Mons stopped trying to talk to him. A bright red beam shot out of Mons's eyes and struck Sonic. "You have no idea what I can do."

A nasty dust storm picked up around Sonic, and when the dust settled, Mons was gone. Judy and Nick were lying on the ground, and suddenly Sonic felt lightheaded and weak.

Sonic fell down next to Judy. "Hey. How're you doing?"

Judy groaned. "Bad." Sonic nodded.

"I'm pretty sure we're both bleeding out...so...since I'm an idiot..I just wanna say...you looked pretty hot when you were holding that gun." Judy managed to smile. "I really don't like when people say that but- since I'm probably going to die- thanks." Sonic laughed, forced himself up to his feet, grabbed Judy and ran.

Nick stood alone.

"Yeah, ok. Just leave me here."

"Ah, whatever. I'll take the car."

**-ELSEWHERE: GAZELLE'S MANSION-**

Gazelle paced the upper floor of her mansion, thinking about Shadow's words.

People were somehow forgetting they had been teleported to another world? Shadow wanted to keep it that way? Maybe Shadow had a point. If everyone's thoughts went back to normal, when they found a way to send Zootopia back, things would work out. But why were they forgetting in the first place? She wasn't one for conspiracy, but Shadow's theory made sense- something or someone bigger than Mons was behind this. Gazelle didn't love it, but Shadow was her best bet. She could probably help him out.

Despite his calm demeanor, there had been desperation in Shadow's plea. As a famous star, Gazelle knew when she was being lied to. Shadow was honest, that much she couldn't take away from him. Curt, sure, and intrusive, but honest. She was a singer, not a superhero. She couldn't fix this by herself. But if Shadow could somehow figure out what was really behind all of this, they would stand a chance of solving the problem together. She laughed softly at the thought of working with someone like him. Shadow hadn't left any particular way to contact her. But she knew, like it or not (and she was starting to wonder if and why she did) she would see him again.

**-ELSEWHERE: LOCATION UNKNOWN-**

**Two shadowed figures have a conversation.**

"The manipulations of time and space are working perfectly. I promise you, once we're done, Sonic the Hedgehog will fall, and the power of many worlds will be within your grasp. I hope for your sake you'll hold up your end."

"Of course, Deadlocke. Once Sonic and the Freedom Fighters are out of the way, any hope of proving Mons's innocence will be gone. He'll suffer just like Sonic will."

"Very good...Doctor."

* * *

**Hmm...I wonder who that could be. ;)**


	6. Holding the World Together

**Hey guys! Enjoy more story updates with some new plot elements as well! This story's definitely picking up faster and stronger than the original.**

* * *

Bulli, Salon, Crystal, Cobalt, and Gray squeezed into a jet they'd stolen from Hive's armory. "This reminds me of a jet Mons built." Bulli reminisced. Salon laughed and sat in the front. "Technology. Magic's inferior cousin."

Bulli sighed. "Technology works just fine, thank you very much." Crystal tussled with her long white hair. "I like tech. It's pretty cool. Especially weapons that blow stuff up."

Cobalt spoke up. "Where are we going, exactly?"

Salon sighed. "Do I have to spell everything out for you? Dr. Eggman is alive. He has my sister. He's behind what happened to Mons. And I know where he is."

As a collective mutter followed by a deafening silence filled the jet, Bulli froze, remembering Mons's frantic words. He's alive, Mons had said. 'He's alive'. How had Eggman survived? Everyone knew he died in an accident during a fight with Sonic...hadn't he? Apparently not.

Salon snapped her fingers and was covered once again in armor. "I'm going to take that monster down for good."

Crystal muttered. "Hottie."

"What'd you just say about that crazy magic chick?" Gray asked irritably.  
"Nothing." Crystal said with a small smile.

Bulli elbowed Gray. "Alright, Brown Nose. You ready to fight Eggman?"  
"Call me Brown Nose one more damn time, and I'll serve your ass to Eggman sunny side up."

Bulli chuckled and shook his head. "Hey, Salon. You mind giving us some armor over here?"  
Salon shook her head in resistance. "My powers are vast, but that much energy would render me unable to fight. I'm sorry."

Cobalt smacked his fists together. "Guess we're doing it the old fashioned way."

Salon wrote something on a sheet of paper and muttered some kind of magical spell under her breath. Coordinates appeared on the paper, which Bulli presumed were the coordinates for wherever Salon had determined Eggman apparently was. He had always been skeptical, but somehow he knew it was true. The way Mons had acted confirmed it in his mind. Eggman was alive. Bulli didn't know how, and he definitely he didn't know why, but he was. And with or without Sonic, it was not going to be an easy battle to stop him.

"Yeah", said Bulli as the ship began to plot course for the coordinates Salon had entered. "Guess we are".

The jet began to lift off as the team aboard braced themselves for the difficult battle ahead.

**-EGGMAN'S BASE-**

Did Mobius really think they were free of him?

How cute.

Dr. Eggman, who had escaped underground and lived out the last year in secret, was happy. Not only did he once again have a base, and Metal Sonic and much of the rest of his army were soon to be rebuilt, but Sonic the Hedgehog was still blissfully unaware of his survival.

Kidnapping Mons's wife and controlling him had been almost too easy. Though Eggman hated to admit it, if there was one mind smarter than his, it was Mons's. Though it was Eggman's plan, it was ultimately Mons's schematics that had created the portal device. It seemed no matter what Eggman did, he could not destroy Sonic the Hedgehog with any power nor weapon on Mobius. The portals were the next logical step- if Mobius had been milked dry, why not explore beyond? Eggman was no great believer in legend, but, like most within his intellectual quotient, he was always open to discovery.

And Eggman certainly wasn't done with Mobius yet.

The Doctor decided to check up on Metal Sonic. His favorie robot lay in a special chamber, almost completely repaired. For the first time quite a while, Metal Sonic's eyes gleamed red from the high-voltage electricity flowing through him. His fingers twitched, and Eggman smiled maniacally. His army was nearing it's comeback sooner than he had expected...

**-ELSEWHERE-**

Shadow had gone to a length he hadn't planned to. To help Gazelle regain her audience, he had made a deal with Mr. Big, the most feared crime boss in Tundratown. Well- it was less of a deal and more like he nearly killed all of Mr. Big's henchmen and threatened to finish them off if Mr. Big didn't do as he said. Mr. Big had a hand in many businesses and companies, and was quite influential upon many of those companies. If Mr. Big wanted something, the spineless corporate cowards he controlled would make it happen. Before midnight, Gazelle advertisements were everywhere. If she wasn't popular enough already, she was now. Shadow had seen the recent headline that Gazelle had given a speech to Zootopia's citizens about how there was no cause for concern. Perfect. Together, they stood a chance...

Shadow imagined for a moment delivering the news to Gazelle. He imagined her smile, her approval, her-

_What the hell am I thinking about_, he thought. He had just scolded Sonic on premature feelings and yet here he was, thinking about a pop star whose dressing room he had broken into- which was luckily less perverted than it sounds- but yet regardless, he was sure Gazelle had no feelings of admiration towards him. Perhaps empathy, perhaps pity, but their alliance had most likely come to pass out of necessity. Shadow wiped the thoughts from his mind, but this only served to irritate him. He was tired- he needed rest. As he drifted off, he calmed himself with the thought of when he might see Gazelle again.

**-ELSEWHERE STILL-**

Sonic had underestimated how bad Judy's injuries had been from the fight with Mons. He had checked her into a hospital and informed Nick of her condition. She would make a full recovery, but the situation had still put tremendous stress on Nick and Sonic. Sonic himself had seen better days, but his body healed at a rapid rate. Sonic had a lot to think about. He couldn't deny he felt something for Judy, but as Nick had said, nothing could compromise their mission. Nothing.

Nothing...right?

**-EGGMAN'S BASE: HANGER-**

Eggman entered his hanger, once the home of the massive Egg Fleet.

For the time being, however, the hanger served as the base of operations for Eggman's newest partner.

"I have good news, Deadlocke."

An sleek, reptilian armored figure stood up and turned to face Eggman. "And what, pray tell, would that be?"

Eggman grinned.

"It's almost time."

* * *

**The suspense continues! Where's this all going? Find out soon!**


	7. A Visit

Shadow woke up to Silver the Hedgehog standing in front of him. "Silver. How- what are you doing here?"

"I've been looking for Sonic." Silver said. "But I found you instead. The future is...complicated."  
Shadow was irritated. "In that case, why don't you just travel back and fix this?"  
"It's not that simple." Silver said. "First of all, I'd need to know where Mons actual performed the experiment, and secondly, the future doesn't turn out...all bad."

Shadow debated if what he was going to ask was a good idea, but curiosity won out in his mind. "Well, considering Mobius is one bad day away from total collapse- what can you tell me about the future?"

Silver sighed exasperatedly. "I suppose I have to tell you about the future, or someone here is going to take matters into their own hands and find a way to undo everything. Right now, Mobius is in a state of emergency. Eventually, those that were forcefully brought to Mobius assist in it's restoration. We enter a new technological age. However, a rouge squad Freedom Fighters attempt to undo the harmony between worlds, and attempt to travel back in time, just as I'm warning you against. Sonic and I work together in the future to stop them. The alterations in time free the villain Mephiles, and he wages terrible war against Mobius. You, Shadow, land the finishing blow that stops Mephiles and saves Mobius. You become publicly associated with Gazelle, and Zootopia loves you. And eventually, she does too."

That shocked Shadow.

"I don't know what kind of sick joke you think this is, Silver, but I take the fate of our planet very seriously!"

Silver was unphased. "As do I. Everything I've told you is true, believe it or not. That is the future that awaits. But I've sensed alterations in the timeline. It's become uncertain. If the events of the experiment are undone-"

"If they are undone, it would return millions back to their homes." Shadow retorted.

Silver sighed. "I can't stop you, Shadow. I know what you're thinking of doing. I'm asking you to consider."

What Shadow was, in fact, thinking of doing, as Silver had guessed, was using his speed to move so fast that he could enter the timestream and travel backwards in time. The only obstacle was that Shadow was simply not fast enough to pull such a trick off.

"What stops me from doing it in the future?" Shadow asked.

"I do, at this moment, by telling you the future. It's a time loop- you get this point and are about to attempt time travel, when I come back from the future and tell you what life is like. In doing so, you never travel in time, and the future I came from is created. It's a closed loop, likely set in motion by the experiment.

Shadow shook his head. "The experiment didn't manipulate time. That's been someone else's work. Silver, I know there's someone else involved. If there's anything you know, please-"

"Eggman." Silver said flatly. "Eventually, Mons is proven innocent. Eggman, alive, turns out to the real culprit, and attacks Mobius. He has a partner, Deadlocke. Deadlocke betrays Eggman and takes over his army, killing thousands of innocents. But after his defeat, there is peace. Deadlocke is believed to have been able to travel throughout time, though he did so sparingly, only tweaking precise moments. He's likely who's been causing the manipulations you've noticed."

Shadow's mouth hung open in shock. "I have to find Deadlocke." Silver shook his head. "You try, Shadow. All of us do. But we never find him. I'm sorry. Not until he's already killed thousands."

Silver began to fly away. "I've told you our future, Shadow. It rests in your hands now."

Shadow couldn't believe what he had just been told. Deadlocke? Mephiles? A relationship with Gazelle?

Could that really be what the future held?

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed this quick chapter! This is here to balance the plots and give Shadow's some extra time.**


	8. Can Failure be Reversed?

Bulli was shocked as the jet touched down. Salon had flown the jet to a remote clearing where even the plants seemed to stop growing. "What are we doing here?" he said irritably.

Salon looked at him and the other Freedom Fighters, began to turn the jet's thrusters, and said, quite simply,

"Going up."

Without another word, the jet flew up through the clouds and tore straight through invisible metal. The cloaking around that section of Eggman's base began to dissapate as the jet burst past the walls.

"We're here." she said.

Bulli was shocked. "No technology could detect this? He's had a base in the friggin' air hovering in the middle of nowhere?"

Crystal drew her sword. "It was an invisible base, to be fair."

Gray shuddered. "We're just going to attack Eggman? Just like this?"

"No", said an all-too-familiar voice, "you're not."

It was Mons.

Bulli whilred around. "Mons? What the-"

Mons smiled. "I'm here to help fix this."

"I've known where this base was located for months. When you broke the exterior, I was alerted in my laboratory. On my own, I stand no chance of rescuing Amber and stopping Eggman, but with a team-"

Cobalt looked shocked. "Now how'd you get here so fast?"

Mons held up a circular device with a strong pulsating glow in the center. "With this. It's a teleportation device."

**-Meanwhile, on the base's front deck-**

Eggman watched his security footage with outrage. "How did those Freedom Fighters find me? This base has been secure for so long, and now-"

"I'll take care of it." said Deadlocke, now Eggman's personal assassin.

The armored soldier drew his sword and a gun and began heading towards where the team had entered.

**-Back to the team-**

Mons was nearly finished formulating his battle plan when Deadlocke burst through the doors.

"Well, well, well. Trying to clear your name, eh, Mons? We both know that's never going to happen."

Deadlocke activated an implant in his armor and pulled Mons towards him in an energy field, punching him firmly and slicing at him with his sword. Mons fell to the ground but quickly stood back up. Salon signaled the rest of the team to action, and they began attacking Deadlocke from several angles at once. It wasn't long until the team had Deadlocke subdued.

It surprised them when he began to laugh.

It also surprised them when what appeared to be another Deadlocke leapt out of a portal and knocked them all to the ground.

"Time travel." Deadlocke explained. "If I wanted to, I could undo this entire encounter. But altering time is incredibly dangerous, even for me. I just need enough to take you clowns out."

Salon cast some kind of spell under her breath and Deadlocke began moving backwards involuntarily. "You think you're the only with time magic?"

Deadlocke snapped his fingers and managed to break from her control. "If you were as powerful as me, you would have saved your sister Amber from Eggman already. That's right, I know why you're here. The same reason as Mons. You're simply just too weak to travel back in time. You may be able to make slight manipulations, but you can't do what I can."

Deadlocke didn't notice Cobalt setting up a camera hijacker in the corner of the room. Footage from Eggman's security cameras lit up his screen. "I've got a visual on Amber!" he yelled.

Deadlocke immediately swung towards him.

"And you're about to lose it."

Deadlocke slashed Cobalt's leg with his sword as he tried to grab him and teleported away.

When he returned, Deadlock was holding Amber with a gun to her head.

That was when Eggman walked out into the room.

"Eggman, you son of a bitch-" Mons began before Eggman cut him off.

"Now, now, Mons. That's no way to talk to someone who's just outsmarted you." Eggman said mockingly.

Amber had handcuffs that were nullifying her magical abilities, rendering her helpless. Cobalt slumped to the ground clutching his leg.

"Move", Deadlock warned, "and she dies."

Mons, without a second thought, clutched the teleportation device, activated it, and threw it directly at Amber, warping her out of Deadlocke's grasp just before he pulled the trigger.

But that wasn't much use against someone who could travel in time.

Deadlocke traveled back in time, to where Amber was still in his grasp, warped forward, and split the device in half with his sword.

The bullet meant for Amber struck Cobalt in the head, and he slumped to the ground, dead.

Then Deadlock shot Amber too.

"Cobalt! Amber! Oh God, no!" Bulli fell on his knees in shock as Deadlocke backed Mons into a wall. Deadlocke sneered. Mons screamed, tears pooling down his face. Mons tore at Deadlocke's suit with incredible force, ripping a piece off. "You'll die for that!"

Gray, Crystal, and Salon rushed at Deadlocke, Bulli still in shock. Deadlocke and Salon tried to overpower each other as Gray and Crystal attacked. Deadlocke broke free of Salon's grasp, grabbed Crystal's sword, and sliced Gray's arm clean off.

Gray screamed in pain as Eggman laughed manically. Bulli attempted to lunge at Eggman, but Deadlocke pulled him down to the ground. Eggman pressed a button, and the wall behind them detonated. Bulli and the rest of the team were helpless as they were sucked out of the ship, their jet falling with them. Deadlocke, who was somehow not being pulled out of the ship, motioned to go after them, but Eggman held up his hand, and he retreated.

As the team fell in mid-air, Salon cast a spell to cushion their fall as they landed on the ground below.

The minute they reached the ground, arguing began.

"Damn it, Salon!" Bulli yelled. "That was your master plan?"

Mons was furious. "Seriously? She didn't even have a plan?"

He turned to Bulli. "Why did you even trust her?"

Salon interjected. "I'm her sister, you narcissist!"

Bulli was mad at Mons now. "Me? Why the hell did you show up? Now your wife and my teammate are dead, and another is missing an arm! I swear to God, Mons, do not pin this on me. You decided to show up because you thought we were going to win and it was the right call to make some dramatic entrance! This is your own damn faul-"

The piece of armor Mons broke off of Deadlocke landed next to them on the ground and embedded itself in the dirt.

Gray, surprisingly still conscious from the bleeding where his arm used to be, said "You think you can analyze that?"

Mons, still furious, was about to retort, but then an idea crossed his mind. "What's your name again?" he asked, turning to Salon.

"Salon."

"Salon. Right. You can do time manipulations, right?"

Salon shuddered. "Only on a small scale."

"What if you had an energy source?"

Salon looked at the piece of Deadlocke's armor, and realized what he was thinking of.

A small smile crept across Mons's face. "If I can harness the energy from Deadlocke's armor, and you can manipulate it to send us back, we can save my wife, and your teammates."

"Woah, woah, woah." Bulli said. "How do we know this won't turn out any differently from last time?"

"Because you have this." Crystal said, speaking up. She was holding the computer, still intact, that Cobalt had used, with a screenshot taken of the cell Amber had been being held in. "We know where Amber was now. We can plan an entire attack before Eggman could even move a muscle."

Gray, whose bleeding was being slowed by Salon, said "We're down one teammate and I'm down an arm. This is going to be an even harder fight."

Mons looked at Gray. "I think I can make a cybernetic arm. I'll give it some weapon upgrades. Now, our jet is trashed, Eggman is hovering above us, and we need to get back to my workshop. How are we getting there?"

Bulli grinned. "Get on my back."

A collective "WHAT?" sounded.

Bulli rolled his eyes. Listen, I can take the weight. Thanks to my powers, I can jump fast and far. So unless someone has a better idea, everyone, get on my damn back."

Mons cringed. "I can fly, you know."

**-ELSEWHERE, Sonic the Hedgehog checks on Judy Hopps in the Hospital.-**

Sonic was waiting for the nurse to tell him when Judy could officially leave the hospital when he saw the news that Eggman had been discovered to be alive.

The footage of what appeared to be Eggman's base disturbed him. He was he alive? Though Sonic knew, as he had told Nick, that this was likely, he had hoped it would not be true.

The nurse came out and told him Judy could leave the next day. Sonic, putting on his best calm face, happily accpeted the news and went in to see Judy, not about to worry her with the news of Eggman.

"Hey." he said softly. "You're getting outta here tomorrow, huh?"

Judy smiled. "Yup."

Sonic didn't know what to say, but he kept talking anyway. "Listen, I know I just showed up in your city, joined your team out of the blue, and couldn't even get Mons. I've been a wreck and I know it. I just want to say- as selfish as this is, working with you- it's been amazing."

Judy blushed slightly. "You've been a nice breath of fresh air yourself, you know. Please, don't leave."

That caught Sonic off guard. "You want me to stay? Sure. We can talk. That'd be nice. Why no-"

"You talk too much". Judy said, and kissed him abruptly.

Sonic was surprised. This was so sudden, yet- welcome. He _had_ wanted this to happen, didn't he?

**-ELSEWHERE-**

Silver had done Shadow the favor of telling him where he could find Gazelle, and she and Shadow were currently having a talk. Some of it was important 'business' discussion, but some of the conversation had contained smaller, more personal details.

Shadow suddenly fell to the ground with a headache. Images flashed violently in front of his eyes. Gazelle grabbed his shoulder. "Shadow! Are you alright?"

Shadow clutched his head as the headache faded. "I'm not sure why I had the vision, but someone else is about to travel back in time."

Gazelle was clearly confused. "What are you talking about? Traveling through time?"  
Shadow looked at her calmly. "I'm awfully sorry about this, but I've got to go."


	9. The Catalyst for Interference

**-PREVIOUSLY-**

Silver had done Shadow the favor of telling him where he could find Gazelle, and she and Shadow were currently having a talk. Some of it was important 'business' discussion, but some of the conversation had contained smaller, more personal details.

Shadow suddenly fell to the ground with a headache. Images flashed violently in front of his eyes. Gazelle grabbed his shoulder. "Shadow! Are you alright?"

Shadow clutched his head as the headache faded. "I'm not sure why I had the vision, but someone else is about to travel back in time."

Gazelle was clearly confused. "What are you talking about? Traveling through time?"  
Shadow looked at her calmly. "I'm awfully sorry about this, but I've got to go."

**-NOW-**

Shadow wasn't sure exactly where he was going, but he knew he had had to go. Why had he had that vision? It was almost like he was connected to time. How and why would that even be?

In his vision, he had seen Eggman. He had seen an armored soldier. He had seen destruction and death, and a group of heroes determined to undo it. He thought back to Silver's warning about travelling through time. The warning had been to Shadow, but what if he wasn't the one to worry about? He had clearly seen in his vision that a group, who was unclear, was about to travel in time.

Then the armored figure from his vision appeared in front of him.

Shadow tried to touch him, but his hand went straight through. "Who are you?"

The armored figure nearly whispered as he spoke. "Deadlocke. Don't bother trying to fight me. I'm not even really here."

"What do you want?" Shadow said to him curtly.

Deadlocke made a sickening sound somewhere in between a laugh and a hiss. "What I want is a stable timeline. You and I are linked. That's why you can see me here, and why you had that vision. Want to know why? Then do as I say. Find them."

Shadow raised his arms in confusion. "Who? Find who?"

Deadlock began to disappear as he spoke. "Find Mons, and you will find the rest."

**-ELSEWHERE- JUDY HOPPS HAS RECOVERED-**

Sonic and Judy were happily walking out of the hospital together, talking and laughing. Judy had received a message from Nick that the laboratory of Mons's they had raided had been seized. In the message, Nick apologized to Sonic for contacting a rouge Freedom Fighter for information on the base's location. Sonic had heard from Tails that the aforementioned rouge Freedom Fighter, whose name was Thunder, had been discharged, likely for leaking the info. Nick went on to mention that Mons's equipment had been mysteriously moved before the laboratory had been seized, indicating Mons likely had multiple workshops. All Mons had left for the cops to find were a few small inventions labelled strangely as 'Haunter Labs' instead of his usual imprint, 'MonsTech', likely to throw the cops off the scent.

Sonic and Judy were unsure of how they would break their budding new relationship status to Nick, but they were happy. Everything was so sudden- one moment they were on a mission and the next they were kissing- but it felt so right.

Almost too right.

Sonic also knew he had to tell Judy that Eggman was alive.

As Sonic and Judy came to a stop at a crossroads, Sonic's cheerful smile faded. "Judy, there's something you and Nick both need to know. While you were resting, I saw something on the news. Something big."

"Dr. Robotnik, Eggman- whatever you want to call him, he's alive. And unfortunately, he's not past his expiration date."

Judy smiled slightly at Sonic's joke. "Did you really just sneak a food pun in amidst that shocking news?"

Sonic nodded. "Humor's kinda how I cope."

So many thoughts filled Sonic's head. He was so lucky. Judy could be dead, or Eggman could've replaced the doctors and tried to poison her, but none of that was going to happen. She was out of the hospital and she was next to him.

Or was she?

Sonic's eye caught Judy's cell phone. She had received messages from Nick, so it was definitely connected to her phone number, but it wasn't the one she'd had by her bed when they'd first kissed.

Because the Judy he'd kissed was real, and the one he was hanging out with currently was a present from an old enemy.

As if on cue, Judy's mouth stopped moving, her head did a full swivel, and an all-too-familiar voice played from what Sonic now realized was an android copy of Judy.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Sonic?" Eggman's voice rang.

"Where's the real Judy?" Sonic blurted.

The android copy spoke again with Eggman's voice. "Oh, she's alright. For now. After you left the hospital yesterday, her room was switched. She's likely about to leave for real, with Nick Wilde. I'm sure it makes you mad that he's there and not you. Well, it doesn't matter. They'll both be dead soon enough."

The Judy android flipped it's head, and the cloaking device disappeared, revealing it's true form.

Metal Sonic.

Eggman's voice played out again. "I rebuilt Metal Sonic to kill you, but then- I had a better idea. He's wired to explode, and faster than you'll ever be. Once he hits the hospital, that's it."

Without another word, Metal Sonic took off towards the hospital. Sonic tried to catch up, but it was true- Metal Sonic was much faster than him. Sonic managed to grab onto his leg, but it was already too late. The hospital was far too close for Sonic to stop him.

He couldn't stop the explosion.

But that didn't mean he was out of options.

Sonic ran the fastest he had ever run, evacuating every room in the hospital as everything around him moved in slow-motion, including the growing explosion. He found Judy and Nick and rushed them out just like everyone else. Sonic felt the flames singe his leg as the hospital erupted. He collapsed to the ground once he was safely outside, along with everyone he had rescued.

That's when Sonic noticed Metal Sonic's parts had somehow survived the blast. He was pulling himself together.

Suddenly, Nick rushed at Metal Sonic with a steel bar that had flung from the hospital debris. He started trying to stop Metal Sonic from recovering.

Finally, Nick knocked Metal Sonic's head clean off, but not before Metal Sonic stabbed Nick straight in the heart. They both fell down motionless.

Nick Wilde had stopped Metal Sonic from causing any more damage at the cost of his own life.

Sonic and Judy- the real Judy, fell into each other's arms, tears pouring down Judy's face. "Nick...Nick...no...NO!" she cried out, but it was too late. Nick was already dead.

Sonic was oblivious to everyone around him and Judy in that moment, in a state of utter shock. "I should have been the one to do that. Nick...I can't believe he's dead."

That's when Sonic realized Mons was behind him.

"He doesn't have to stay that way."

Sonic and Judy whirled around to face Mons. The bystanders Sonic had rescued ran screaming the moment they saw him. Mons sighed. "I'm putting together a team. We tracked Metal Sonic to this location, but clearly, I was too late. I know working with me probably frightens you, but I've made a breakthrough."

"I've successfully created a means to travel in time."

"Thanks to Eggman, my wife is dead. One of my brother's teammates is missing an arm. And now, Nick Wilde has fallen. We can take it all back. But I'm going to need your help."

Judy was in shock. "Eggman was behind everything, wasn't he? He's the one who created the portals. He's the one who framed you for everything!"

Mons nodded slowly. "That's correct- mostly. He kidnapped my wife and forced me to create that machine- with his blueprints. When I finished, he never made good on his promise. I never saw my wife again, until I tried to rescue her- and his assassin killed her in front of me. My brother- you know Bulli, right? He and his team were with me. I don't know much about Eggman's new assassin. He calls himself Deadlocke and he can travel through time. It was with a piece of his armor that I discovered a successful method to do so myself. The plan is simple- travel back in time and undo everything Eggman has done. With your help, I know we can make this work."

Sonic and Judy stared in shock, collected themselves, and agreed to his offer.

And from a nearby rooftop, Shadow the Hedgehog watched, Deadlocke's words echoing in his mind.

"Find Mons, and you will find the rest."

* * *

**Finally the different character's stories are all coming together! For those of you wanting more Sonic action, don't worry, it's coming. **

**You may remember in the original version of _Broken Glass_ that Metal Sonic returned as a reformed hero. That plot thread will be in this story, but in a different way. What do I mean? Keep reading to find out!**


	10. Sonic's Old Enemy

**Hey guys! Here's a new chapter of Broken Glass: The Definitive Cut!**

* * *

Mons clicked the final pieces of his time machine into place. "Well, this isn't the fanciest thing I've ever seen, but- it'll work. We'll be going back in chronological order, just to be safe. First we save Nick, then we stop Eggman and Deadlock, and then-" Mons stopped.

"Then what?" Sonic asked.

Mons shook his head. "Then, I have some personal business to attend to."

Sonic wasn't having it. "Listen, I'm here to save my friend, and the world along the way. I think I speak for both Judy and myself when I say I don't want any secrets on a mission as crazy and potentially destructive as time travel. So, if you would, spit it out."

Bulli sighed. "Mons, what are you talking about?"

Mons gritted his teeth. "Time is a delicate thing. You know the theory about backwards time travel, right? You can't actually do it because you enter a new reality in which the old past is now your new future? That's science. Deadlock's powers aren't like that. Whatever this suit is charged with- it's magic."

Salon smiled. "Glad to see a scientist acknowledge the arcane."

Gray flexed his cyberntic arm. "Hey, Mons, I still- totally want my real arm back, but- this thing _is_ pretty nifty, I gotta say."

Mons smiled slightly and nodded. "I appreciate the compliment. Now, as I was saying, Deadlock possess an incredibly rare power, the ability to move within our timeline and alter history entirely, without a trace of the original timeline. No alternate dimensions, nothing. He can rewrite reality, right here. And with the piece of his armor we obtained, I was able to integrate it into my machine. Once I'm sure we've saved everyone, I'm going to go back further and undo this entire nightmare. I'll stop Eggman before he ever hurts Amber at all."

Mons turned to Judy. "And you'll be back home."

Sonic noticed Judy seemed unsure, but he chalked it up to a lack of confidence in Mons's plan. "Alright." she said. "Let's do this."

Mons flipped the switch on the machine and the engine whirred to life. "Salon, if you would?"

Salon directed a beam of energy into the center of the machine, causing a portal to open on the rift between space and time.

Crystal was the first to approach the portal. "Alright. No more questions, no more tears. Let's fix this."

As the team proceeded one-by-one through the portal, Shadow watched from behind a desk in Mons's laboratory.

Find Mons, and you will find the rest.

Shadow stopped himself for a moment. What was he doing? He had to get to the bottom of that vision, sure, but even if he did decide to join Deadlocke, what _did_ Deadlocke even want him to do?

Shadow decided that, for the time being, he was simply following the team to survey.

Once everyone was through and it had been a couple of minutes, Shadow proceeded through the portal.

**-BACK IN TIME: SONIC AND JUDY ARE LEAVING THE HOSPITAL-**

The team exited on a rooftop where they saw Past Sonic and Judy leaving the hospital.

Present Sonic pointed at Judy. "Alright. That Judy is a fake. We take her...er...it..out, we save Nick."

"On it." Mons said.

Mons dashed off the rooftop, grabbed the fake Judy, who was actually Metal Sonic, and slammed the android into the ground. As Metal Sonic shifted into his true form, Eggman's voice rang out from his speakers. "Mons? How did you- you're not supposed to be here! You-"

Mons crushed Metal Sonic's head and tossed him aside. "I've heard enough of your voice, Eggman. Do the world a favor and just shut the hell up."

Mons flew back onto the rooftop where the team was waiting. "Nick's saved. Let's go."

Sonic was slightly stunned. "Jeez, Mons, you could've asked for help."

Bulli whispered in Sonic's ear. "Don't take it personally. He gets that way sometimes."

Mons shook his head. "Didn't need it." he said as he activated the time travel devices on each member's chest.

Shadow arrived in the past just before the team disappeared. "So it _is_ a rescue mission. Interesting."

**-THE FIGHT TO SAVE AMBER-**

The team arrived just outside where Crystal had determined Amber was being held. "Right now, Eggman and Deadlocke are probably occupied with our past selves. We have a very small window to save Amber before Deadlocke comes here and kills her. Crystal, your sword might help with this door.

Bulli looked insulted. "We couldn't have just smashed it down?"

"On it." Crystal swung her energy sword through the door as Gray blasted it with a heat beam from his cybernetic arm, and Salon used her magic to push the severed halves down. Crystal grinned at Salon. "I like you."

Salon smirked. "Let's save my sister."

Now it was Sonic's turn. "I'm on it."

Sonic moved incredibly quick, freeing Amber from the levers of Eggman's security that were holding her in place. Amber was too shocked to speak. "Th-thank y-"

**-BACK AT THE LABORATORY-**

"-ou."

Mons had brought the team back to his lab. Sonic was still holding Amber. "No problem! That's what I do! I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, world-class hero, chili dog eating champion and-"

Amber didn't even hear him over the sound of Mons's happy laughter. She embraced Mons lovingly. "It's so good to see you again."

Sonic intervened. "Hey- I really hate to interrupt this, er- tender moment, but weren't we supposed to go back to one more stop?"

Mons sighed. "I'm sorry, Sonic. I have to do that one alone."

Before Sonic could even react, Mons turned to his wife. "I'll be back before you even realize it." he said as he warped away.

Salon turned to Amber. "Why _did_ you marry him?"

Amber rolled her eyes. "Good to see you too, Salon."

Bulli stomped the ground. "Damn it! Who does he think he is, going back there alone?"

Suddenly, another portal opened. Cobalt came through, and as he did, Gray's normal arm returned.

Bulli hugged him excitedly. "Cobalt!"

Then Nick Wilde.

Sonic hi-fived Nick. "YES! Good to have you back, buddy."

Nick was clearly confused. "Sonic, I saw you not that long ago. What the heck is going on?"

Sonic's face went red. "Oh...yeah, about that."

"You were killed by Metal Sonic, and so we traveled through time to save you." Salon said very matter-of-factly.

Nick was too stunned to respond. Judy's hug almost knocked him over. "Hey, carrots. Glad I'm not dead, obviously."

Bulli and Crystal both spoke up at the same time. "Where's Mons?"

Then a black portal appeared, writhing with dark energy. Mons came flying out, clearly injured.

"MONS!" Amber screamed.

Deadlocke stepped out of the portal, his armor damaged. "Well, well, well. So you thought you could just build a little machine and make all the pain go away? Life doesn't work that way, no matter how many timelines you create."

Suddenly Shadow came out of the portal, lunging at Deadlocke, who caught him and started shoving him back into the portal.

Sonic clenched his fists, ready for a fight. "Shadow? What the hell are you doing here?"

Deadlocke laughed sickeningly. "Oh, Shadow. You fell right into my trap."

Shadow squirmed. "I swear I'll kill you."

Deadlocke almost had Shadow completely through the portal. "I already knew Mons would attempt to travel in time. I allowed him to obtain a piece of my armor. The energy he activated travelling to those key moments was exactly what I needed- and you, of course. Your body will serve as the catalyst I require."

Shadow's body erupted into dark energy, and his form began to change.

Shadow was gone, and something else had taken over.

"Hello, Sonic. Do you remember me?"

Sonic couldn't believe who he saw in front of him.

**Mephiles.**

* * *

**THE PLOT THICKENS! How will our heroes handle the return of Mephiles the Dark?**

**Find out soon!**


	11. Roundabout

Sonic stared at Mephiles in shock.

"Do you remember me, Sonic?" Mehpiles croaked. "You erased me! Removed me from the timeline! I am the will that has brought these events into motion. I have been inside your minds. I have survived between the cracks in time. If only Mons hadn't been so stubborn and brought you and your friends along to his final time mission. Perhaps you would have stood a chance at preventing what is about to happen."

Bulli tried to attack Mephiles, but he simply warped to the other side of the room. "What?" Bulli yelled. "What's about to happen?"

Mephiles laughed. "Temporal Armageddon."

Suddenly, portals appeared behind him. Enemies Sonic hadn't seen in years began to walk out. Scourge the Hedgehog. Chaos. Silver Sonic. Zavok. Infinite. And lastly, Hive.

Mephiles motioned to the villains. "You defeated them throughout the course of your history. Now, I have brought them all here. To now. And there is no surviving this time, 'hero'."

"Where's Eggman?" Crystal whispered, which Deadlocke heard somehow.

"Eggman was but a means to an end." he said. "This is the end for you. All of you."

Sonic and the rest of the heroes tried to fight back, but they were losing the battle. Infinite grabbed Sonic and rose into the air. "I was pulled from time by Mephiles to your present. He told me I lose to you. That will not happen here."

Infinite slammed Sonic to the ground and fired an energy beam at him, which Salon deflected. Scourge lunged at her and knocked her off balance, dodging Bulli's punch. "I don't know who you new blokes are, but you've had your fill. Sonic is mine." Scourge growled. Cobalt yanked him off Salon, but Silver Sonic, one of Eggman's earliest robots, blasted him with concentrated heat energy. Nick and Judy fired several rounds at Infinite, who laughed and shifted the ground under them, knocking them off course. Chaos began to overpower Shadow as Mephiles and Deadlock moved in for the kill.

They had to escape.

Mons ducked behind his desk and brought a portal device online. "Everyone, move!"

He punched Zavok and Chaos out of the way as Sonic started rushing everyone into the portal. Hive nearly made it through, but Gray delivered a swift kick that knocked him off balance. Shadow tried to stay behind and fight, but Bulli yanked him through the portal.

The heroes escaped through the portal as it closed.

"Where'd they go?" Hive yelled angrily.

**-ZOOTOPIA-**

The heroes stumbled out of the portal onto a safe clearing in Zootopia.

Mons collapsed to the ground. "For once, I'm glad Zootopia is on Mobius. We can stay here, make a plan, and then fight them."

Sonic was furious. "Plan? There is no plan! You jumped into a portal without anyone to go with you and unleashed my biggest nightmare on not only Mobius, but everyone else who's stuck here, as a result of an experiment that _YOU_ initiated! Now Tails is stuck, alone, and if anything happens to him, so help me-"

"Calm down, Sonic!" Shadow growled.

"Calm down?_ CALM DOWN?_ What are you even doing here, Shadow? Care to explain yourself?"

"Wait." Salon said. "Something's wrong. I felt it before. The energy in this place feels... not at all authentic." Salon began to cast some kind of a spell.

That's when the drones projecting their environment powered down, and Sonic and company found themselves in a prison cell.

"Everything was fake?" Sonic said with surprise. "But who would-"

"That would be me." Deadlocke said with a smirk as he moved out of the shadows before them. "Your little mission was all part of the plan from the start. I tracked your entry and exit points throughout time. You may have saved your friends, but none of you ever really returned to Mons's laboratory."

"Who are you?" Mons asked.

Deadlocke removed his helmet, which, for Mons, was an answer.

"Vincent." he gasped.

Sonic was confused. "Right, so for those of us following along who_ aren't_ familiar with your personal life, who is this guy?" he said to Mons.

Vincent spoke up before Mons could. "Years ago, MonsTech was a business damn near without competition. Our profits on Earth were unmatched. Much like the company itself, he had his name on everything."

"Earth?" Shadow asked.

"Yes, Earth. You see, Mons may be Mobian, but he did much of his business- elsewhere. I saw the potential in his company- the weapons he could build, but he insisted on ceaseless pacifism and only keeping them for defense! So when he came back to Mobius to expand his franchise back home, I took matters into my own hands. I quit his fading company and eventually came into contact with a scientist nobody could track down- Dr. Eggman. If Mons wouldn't build the weapons of his own will, then I...we...would make him. I would help Eggman obtain power beyond his wildest expectations, and in return, he would give me a crystal containing the powers of Mephiles the Dark. That's how I was able to induce all of your hallucinations. But in time, even Eggman will fall by my blade. The truth is, Shadow, Mons's weapons are better off under my control than his. I'm sure his 'teammates' could agree."

Vincent pressed a button, and everyone was locked in place. All except for Gray and Cobalt, who walked out of the cell and stood by his side.

"You traitors!" Crystal screamed. "You've thrown away everything the Freedom Fighters stood for!"

"You think this was easy for either of us?" Gray screamed. "I liked you, Crystal, I really did. We loved the team. But the world isn't so simple as just good and evil anymore. I hope one day you'll understand that." Gray said.

Deadlocke released the lock, and motioned to Bulli and Crystal. "Care to join the winning team while you're at it?"

"You're one ugly lizard son of a bitch, you know that?" Bulli jabbed.

Vincent put his mask back on. "The chemicals I experimented with altered my appearance to the grotesquely reptilian, but it was a worthy sacrifice for what's coming."

Sonic's fists clenched. If this freak, or Eggman, tried to hurt Judy again-

Where were Judy and Nick?

Sonic whirled around in shock, having realized Judy and Nick were no longer with them. "Judy! Nick! What did you do to them?" Sonic yelled. Deadlocke retreated into the shadows as Nick and Judy approached the cell.

Sonic reached out a hand against the holding cell to Judy, calling to her, but she turned away from the glass.

"I'm sorry, Sonic. But we have to get Zootopia back home, and I'm afraid you and your friends can no longer be trusted."

As Judy and Nick walked away, Sonic called and screamed to them until tears streamed down his face. Mons put a hand on his shoulder, but Sonic pushed it away as the sadness turned to rage. And the rage turned to...  
_Oh, no._

"Sonic, what's going on?" Mons yelled as the ground beneath them shook and a previously non-present energy enveloped Sonic." Sonic didn't answer the question, if he had even heard it at all. Instead, Sonic clutched his head in agony. "No, no, _no- I thought I got rid of this!_"  
Shadow reached out his arm to stop the others from going any further towards Sonic. "You're all going to want to stand back."

Salon began to cast a magic spell to contain Sonic, but Crystal, who had previously been too shell-shocked to move, stepped in to stop her.  
"What are you doing?" Salon asked irritably.  
"Whatever's going on with Sonic might be our key to getting out of here." Crystal said. "Judy and Nick may be under some kind of control, but Gray and Cobalt aren't. They'll try to stop us from leaving."

Suddenly, the holding cell shattered, and Sonic- or rather, _Dark Sonic-_ stood in the center of the wreckage.

"Let's get out of here." he said.

As if on cue, Mephiles and the other illusions appeared in front of them, but they were barely a match for Sonic now. As the Infinite illusion fell to the ground, Cobalt burst from the shadows, landed a decent blow to Sonic, and picked up Infinite's helmet. "You know, I think it kinda fits-"

Crystal ran her sword through Cobalt's chest. "We should have let you die. This time, we will."  
"Not today, sweetheart", Cobalt said as he pulled the blade from his chest, warping away with whatever device Deadlocke must've equipped him with.

With the team all alone, Sonic's Dark Form faded, and he fell to the ground in tears. "Gray and Cobalt lied to us...and now...he has control of Nick and Judy...he'll turn the entire ZPD on us!"

Mons knelt down beside him. "We'll figure this out, Sonic. Now, let's get out of here and go home."

* * *

**And there you have it! With Nick and Judy, and the entire ZPD under his control, how will our heroes stop Deadlock (and Eggman?)**

**Were you shocked by the betrayals of Cobalt and Gray?**


End file.
